We Are Soaking Our Canadian Symbols Literally in Oil

A local resident living in the middle of the latest oil spill to hit Northern Alberta told reporters that "[his] greatest fear is that this [oil spill] is going to be forgotten."

I share that fear with this resident. It is a fear that each of these spills is happening and being forgotten -- labelled as an isolated incident and not the epidemic it has become. In this latest spill that dumped between 160,000 and half a million litres of oil into Red Deer River, there is a little victim that is unforgettable.

A week old baby beaver was recovered from the spill and is being nursed back to health. This little guy is a symbol of what Canada has become in my lifetime. We were once the "true north strong and free" a place tourists flocked to witness the natural beauty of our coastlines, vast forests and oceans.

Now we are known around the world for our massive lakes of toxic sludge, oil pipeline leaks, black rivers, contaminated ground water and the one of the largest single sources of global warming pollution in the world.